diff --git a/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c b/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c
index a3b64f3bf9a2..19d654b0150a 100644
--- a/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c
+++ b/arch/powerpc/kernel/smp.c
@@ -369,13 +369,8 @@ void __init smp_prepare_cpus(unsigned int max_cpus)
 	cpumask_set_cpu(boot_cpuid, cpu_sibling_mask(boot_cpuid));
 	cpumask_set_cpu(boot_cpuid, cpu_core_mask(boot_cpuid));
 
-	if (smp_ops)
-		if (smp_ops->probe)
-			max_cpus = smp_ops->probe();
-		else
-			max_cpus = NR_CPUS;
-	else
-		max_cpus = 1;
+	if (smp_ops && smp_ops->probe)
+		smp_ops->probe();
 }
 
 void smp_prepare_boot_cpu(void)